As soon as we returned from the trip, we went and bought some pumpkins. The kids spent about a half hour designing what their pumpkins would look like. Here’s the final outcomes:
A tour of Eastern Europe with Mom and KC
Mom and KC came back for a visit in October. It was great seeing them since we hadn’t seen them since last Christmas. They were here for a few days before we left on our great adventure!
Of course while in London, we had an obligatory pub crawl, which was fun and resulted in us getting free t-shirts (I think KC could have just gone on home at that point, he was so happy). Mom and KC took Caden to the Eye of London and got some great visuals of London. It is such a beautiful city. It is giant and spread out but never lacking anything interesting to see no matter where you might be standing. Our next stop was Berlin. The city was far more interesting that I thought it would be. Between seeing checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, riding our bikes inbetween the “no-man’s land” of the Wall, and seeing various beautiful buildings, we also had time to eat some great food and the kids of course were excited about the indoor swimming pool. Michelle was kind enough to take the kids swimming while the four of us took a bicycle tour. The information the local gave us was fascinating. For example, Hitler only won the election by 35% of the popular vote. The aristrocrats gave him the votes to bump him to a minimum of 50% so that he could be in power. I was also unaware that the same group (Hitler plus the aristocrats) took the poor and labourers and put them in “labor camps”. Hitler was smart enough to know he didn’t need to outright kill them, because the conditions they were living in were sufficient to insure the people would live no more than 3-4 years. Millions of Germans died in the manner according to our local guide. Another gem I learned: outside of the large Berlin public library is a hole in the ground with a covered window that you can look into and see basically a cellar-style library with only empty shelves. The quote next to it remarks something along the lines of “first they burn the books [of the Jews], next they burn the people”. Hmmmmm…. Seems to be good food for thought for our country…
We also happened to be there for the Festival of Lights. The night shows were amazing! Berlin turned out to be a favorite for Scott and I.
After Berlin, we went to Budapest. What a beautiful city! It certainly made us adjust our rankings of favorite European cities as it bumped its way into the top three. With the towering palaces, the castles, the 4100 caves (under all of Hungary), the thermal baths, the open city squares, and the cheap food, we were in heaven! The kids had a blast, which means the adults had a blast. A must see for any one touring through Europe.
We decided to go through Vienna (our favorite European city) for the night so that Mom and KC could see it. It was cold there, but again we think there may not be a more beautiful city in Europe…
Finally the highlight was Dubrovnik. We spent four days sunning on the beach, touring the old world city center, and generally drinking too much beer. The city is incredible as it sits on rocks and cliffs up the side of the mountain. Just a few miles away is the country border with Bosnia. Dubrovnik was warm, the people were kind, and the beer was cold. (-: The only down side we experienced was the flight back to London from Dubrovnik. Scott and I fly an often silly amount, but neither of us had ever experienced continuous and extremely turbulent flight for 2-plus hours. The flight attendants were even a bit ill from the incredible bumpiness. Mom and KC’s bags neither one made it back to London on the return trip, but we’re hopeful they have received all their baggage by now! All in all, an incredible adventure for all of us as well as the children. We’re looking forward to the next one!
Here’s the video highlights:
And of course the honorable mentions!
Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin…
The somewhat angry king and queen?!?
The very cool memorial to the Holocaust victims in Berlin…
The purple man sunbathing in Dubrovnik?
Nearing an end…
It has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster these last few weeks. This week, I informed my team at work that I would be returning to the USA at the end of the year. Of course I cried (as I hoped, and was even sure, I wouldn’t do!). A little of me feels like I have let them down by leaving, and alot of me simply doesn’t want to return to the States. And of course these people, even though technically I am their manager, have become friends. It’s like leaving an entire lifetime behind.
The part about returning to the States seems so depressing. Watching the news from afar is honestly far more depressing than living in the news! It seems while we lived there, I was desensitized by many of the horrible things in our everyday life. The politics (not just politics but the nastiness seemingly reserved for the USA citizens), the shooting violence, the poor (ever increasing), the sick (also overlaps for many as the poor), etc…. The madness of it all seems overwhelming to go back to.
Now I feel certain many of my American friends will be offended to hear these things, but one of the things that living overseas has given me is a different view. While the USA is a great country, many might argue the best in the world, it has so many glaring things wrong with it. Without going on a political tirade (not the point of this post), I can say that we as a family have found it safer, healthier, more moderate (politically and religiously), more family friendly, and generally just a better place to raise children here in Europe/UK. Now to provide balance to the argument, I have to say that it is outrageously expensive to live here. One tank of gas for the car is about $170. Food is more expensive, housing is more expensive, everything is more expensive. And also, there isn’t good Mexican food (tex-mex or Mexican) and there aren’t garbage disposals. All three of those things are glaring problems with living here!
The things I will miss the most: walking home from the tube in the middle of the night without worrying about safety; the fresh clean air (yes even in a city of 12 million, but admittedly predominantly due to lack of humidity); the parks on every corner; the produce that was sourced locally that has flavor and natural color (and the minimum amounts of high fructose corn syrup here); the beef that is grass fed (the cheapest and most available option, not to mention the most delicious!); the mass transit – be it bus, train, or tube; the happy workers that are paid livable wages irrespective of what their jobs are; the fact that if one of us gets really sick – I don’t worry about going bankrupt; the civilized politics; the fun and cool adventures we get to go on that are in basically in our back yard; and of course, the people I have met and become close to.
I know that many of these things are simply inconceivable to some Americans. The idea that anywhere could be better than the good ole U S of A is a foreign concept. I left the USA thinking that there is simply nothing better, but since it is a short committment, why not. I was horrified at the idea of nationalized medicine. I was horrified at the thought of taking the tube or bus anywhere, especially after the bombings. I was certain that the food we get in Texas is as good as anywhere else. I was wrong on all accounts.
We have been so forunate to live here. The kids have experienced more in these last 2.5 years than Scott and I ever did combined in our first multiple decades of life! I certianly have grown and changed as a result of this adventure.
I am excited about getting to see our friends and family in the USA. I’m excited about going to the ranch again for fun and relaxing weekends. I’m excited that Scott will be surrounded by adults again during the day versus just having Skype and phones to work through. And no matter how sad I am about coming over, I realize that there are sooooo many worse things that could happen to us and our family. We are lucky to not be fighting any terminal diseases, fortunate that we are healthy, fortunate that we have medical care if we need it, fortunate that we have a great house and food to eat, fortunate that we have friends and family to return to… And the list goes on. So forgive me for being down and melancholy, I can in fact see the bigger picture. The pity party will end soon. And afterall, we still have at least two amazing adventures coming before we head back, so those will certainly help to turn this frown upside down!
In the mean time, we begin the tedious preparations for another international move. I can say that I hope it isn’t our last!
September stayed busy
September was a very busy month for us. The kids kept us running all over the place and the weather, for the most part, was absolutely beautiful.
The Falcons School started back the first week of September. After a good summer break, the kids were eager to go back to school. Weekends were quite busy. We had Saturday mornings at football practice and horseback riding lessons in Richmond Park. The kids have also able to take piano lessons and chess lessons at school which I love! Scott was able to secure a small keyboard for the family until we move so the kids could practice at home as well. I really hope to continue the music lessons once we return to the states. I must admit, one of the biggest things I miss from Houston is our piano and the music playing throughout the house during the day.
The football lessons have demonstrated that probably our children (at least one of our children) will not be athletically gifted. (That’s the nicest way I could think to say that Caden would rather pick the grass out in the field than run after the ball…) However, they are both really good at chess and math. Caden can almost beat me in chess already. (I’m uncertain if that means he is really good or I am really bad?!)
Scott and I also had some fun. We went and saw a band at Shephard’s Bush, and we had multiple delicious dinners on date nights.
At the end of September, a friend of ours Ashley Allen came over from Houston for several days. It was great to see a fellow American/Texan. We had a good time while she was here. That same weekend, we went and saw even more sights, but unfortunately I didn’t take my camera. However, in the video, you can see the pictures from Postman’s Park. This particular park is one of my favorite places in the city. It is a small green space hidden between some buildings behind St Paul’s Cathedral. It is a peaceful but also somewhat sad place. The park is a memorial to those who have died while saving the lives of other people. Many of them are children that are memorialized through small but tasteful plaques. Ashley took several pictures of the kids there so I am hoping that they turn out well. It is such a special place…
A busy week at Center Parks
While we have been quite busy exploring this year, we haven’t taken off more than a day or two at a time of holiday since February (I took off four days to go to Lanzarote with the fam). So we went all out and took off another four days and strategically scheduled a week away around a bank holiday weekend.
The kids had been dying to go to Center Parcs. Center Parks (or as the Brits would say: Centre Parcs) is a giant park where there are more activities to choose from than anyone would ever possibly have time to do. When you arrive, you park your vehicle at the front and the remainder of the time to move around the camp, you must walk, bike or take the land train. Let me summarize by saying we had a blast, even though it rained for four of the five days we were there.
We lost a half day due to a eye issue with Caden where we had to take him to the doctor, but aside from that, we were extremely busy having fun. Activities including: swimming in the sub-tropical swimming paradise (paradise is an understatement), cross-bow practice for the kids, rock wall climbing, playing in the woods, biking, fishing, playing on the sandy beach, chef school for the kids, and (possibly the favorite amongst the little people) wizard and fairy university. And just for clarification, the fishing really should’ve been called catching. The kids caught more fish by running the net through the water than using the fishing pole and bait! The squeals of delight made it extremely fun…
The video highlights:
Honorable mention:
